Chapter 397: Reinforcements

Chapter 397: Reinforcements

Outside the house, Zhao Tianhu heard the extremely pitiful scream from Lü Xiuzai and immediately slumped in disappointment, turning to Kui Sange and saying, "Ah, not a single one."

Before Kui Sange could speak, a chubby black-faced man beside him piped up. "Master Kui, my buddy heard that this has something to do with the Supervisory Bureau of Heaven. What if we—"

"Slap!" Zhao Tianhu struck him across the head. "Don’t you know what kind of business we’re in? We’re grave robbers! Dare you go looking for the Supervisory Bureau of Heaven?! If we provoke them, they’ll slaughter us all!"

The black-faced man, clutching his mouth, retreated into the crowd, complaining, "They’re not constables anyway. We’re just a bunch of grave diggers who don’t fall under their jurisdiction."

Zhao Tianhu narrowed his eyes. "If that’s the case, let’s just forget about this spirit artifact. We’ve already brought so many people along; we’ve shown enough mercy to Brother Four."

Upon hearing this, those around him grew anxious. "Master Zhao, we can’t give it up! That thing turned Brother Four into that state—it must be a treasure of some high-ranking person!"

"Yeah! Even if we don’t dare use it, selling it to someone would fetch a fortune!"

"Huh! Master Zhao! I heard those high-ranking folks have immortal pills that grant eternal life! Let’s trade this cursed skin for them!"

"What nonsense! Shut up!" Zhao Tianhu’s voice silenced everyone instantly.

"If you’ve got the guts, go take off that strange cursed skin from Brother Four! Whoever succeeds, it’s theirs! But are you even brave enough?"

"I didn’t know it was such a treasure! But whatever we dug out kills people! Brothers Four and Six both died—how many lives do you think you have to risk?"

"Fine then! Seal all doors and windows. We’ll leave at dawn to avoid being noticed by the authorities."

Hearing this, no one dared to speak further. They all began preparing to follow his orders.

"Aaaahhh!!!" Lü Xiuzai's scream echoed again from inside the house.

"Oh?!" Zhao Tianhu’s face lit up with a trace of joy. "He’s still alive! Looks like there might be hope after all. Wait, let’s hold on for now!"

"Aaaahhh!!!", Lü Xiuzai screamed wildly while holding the copper coins, spinning in circles within the bedroom. Behind him, a long neck with a disheveled head was writhing like a serpent, chasing after him.

The twisted, limb-bound corpse beside him forced Lü Xiuzai to use every ounce of strength to escape, fearing he’d meet the same fate.

Cornered against the wall with nowhere to run, Lü Xiuzai gritted his teeth and raised the copper coin high as a head flew toward him. The head recoiled half a step.

"It’s okay, it’s okay! This thing fears copper coins!" Lü Xiuzai panted heavily, trying to calm himself.

Only now did he get a chance to look closely at what it actually was.

It was a human—or rather, had once been a human. His neck and limbs had stretched impossibly long, twisting like serpents in midair.

On his chest lay a moldy piece of skin, stitched together from several faces and scalps. The neat scars on it proved these were once monks.

Their faces had been sewn shut with thread, and strange Sanskrit-like symbols were painted all over their foreheads and cheeks, making the already unsettling skin even more grotesque.

With each movement, the monks’ features would stretch and twist like taut strings.

"Is that human skin? Could it be that skin that allows the head to stretch so far?" Under the pressure of danger, Lü Xiuzai’s mind raced.

Right now, it didn’t matter whether it was or wasn’t. The most important thing was escaping this hellhole. He couldn’t handle this.

Looking at the writhing heads and hands before him, Lü Xiuzai thought for a moment, then thrust the five copper coins forward.

Seeing them recoil, he quickly raised the coins and slowly moved toward the window. When he reached it, he began tapping the wooden frame with his elbows.

Just as he prepared to break through the window and escape, the window suddenly pushed inward from outside, sending him sprawling backward.

When he scrambled to his feet, his head was mere inches away from the disheveled skull.

The monster before him nearly stopped his breath.

As the head opened its mouth wide to bite down on him, a brilliant light shot from his left shoulder, striking the head directly.

Hair and flesh melted away, leaving only a pale, bony skull rolling to the ground.

Without its head, the man wrapped in human skin collapsed, clearly dead.

As the host perished, the monk’s skin peeled away like a torn cloth, rushing toward Lü Xiuzai.

At that critical moment, “Whoosh!” A wooden pole shot out, piercing the moving skin into the ground.

Stunned, Lü Xiuzai looked up the pole and saw a white banner hanging from it. Beneath the yin-yang taiji symbol at the top, six characters were written.

If Lü Xiuzai could read, he would understand that those six words meant: “Fortune Telling, Reading Characters, Divination.”

“Oh my, I, Chen the Blind, have been cursed for days, but today I finally hit upon something good,” said Chen the Blind, who had previously done business with Li Huowang, feeling his way around the area and reaching for the white banner that served as his sign.

He walked over, stepped on it with his feet, and pulled it free.

Seeing the blind old man with a bamboo basket, bending over and fondling the moving human skin, Lü Xiuzai finally realized what was happening and quickly scrambled to his feet.

“Uh… respected master, thank you for your help earlier.”

Chen the Blind acted as though he hadn’t heard, first wrapping the skin in black cloth, then pulling out a mirror—a bagua mirror that Li Huowang had given him earlier.

Meanwhile, Zhao Tianhu and Kui Sange outside had gathered by the window, staring in astonishment.

They had witnessed everything. Who was this blind man? How could he be so powerful?

Chen the Blind held the bagua mirror under his arm and tapped the ground with the white banner as he walked toward the window. “Why are you all standing there? It’s crowded. Back up!”

Seeing the blind man prepare to climb out the window, the crowd stepped back a few paces but didn’t move too far, forming a semi-circle around the window. Their own skins were still inside his bamboo basket.

“Hmm, that’s better,” said Chen the Blind solemnly, assuming a martial stance. With his left hand, he held the bagua mirror horizontally, his right hand forming seals, drawing symbols on the mirror’s surface, while softly chanting spells.

Lü Xiuzai, watching from the sidelines, felt a flicker of admiration. This blind man was truly ethereal, like a celestial figure. If only he could be like him someday.

And that bagua mirror in his hands—it looked like a powerful magical artifact for exorcism and demon-slaying. How much would it cost if bought?

Just as Lü Xiuzai was thinking this, Chen the Blind’s chanting grew faster.

When the spell ended, Chen raised the mirror and shone it outward at the crowd.

"Supreme Dao, Heaven and Earth’s Righteous Law!"

Blinding light burst forth from the mirror, piercing through all of them like spears.

In despairing screams, everyone outside the window turned into red, pulpy messes.

(End of Chapter)